Since the release of Bloomburrow, red aggro decks have been a formidable force in both Standard and Pioneer. The “valiant” package involving cards like Heartfire Hero made red decks exceptionally explosive.
Most decklists in Pioneer since Bloomburrow’s release have featured either a black splash or green splash for cards like Callous Sell-Sword or Innkeeper’s Talent. However, over the last week, we’ve seen a shift in favor of mono-red.
Mono-red aggro has surprisingly won multiple Magic Online Pioneer Challenges recently, featuring some unique deckbuilding decisions. The inclusion of both a new Aetherdrift one-drop and a beefy Bloomburrow four-drop in the maindeck has helped give mono-red more staying power. Let’s see what these new cards bring to the table.
Interesting Additions
- Mana Value: R
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Stats: 2/1
- Card Type: Creature- Goblin Artificer
- MTG Sets: Aetherdrift
- Card Text: Exhaust- 2R: Discard up to two cards, then draw that many cards. Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. (Activate each exhaust ability only once.)
The first new card is one that many people, me included, overlooked during spoiler season. After all, Greasewrench Goblin isn’t really special at first glance. It’s hard to go wrong with a 2/1 for one mana, but in a format with Monastery Swiftspear and Hired Claw, how much better can Greasewrench Goblin really be?
Well, the way this deck is constructed, it makes sense playing Greasewrench Goblin for the upside its exhaust ability brings. This red variant is much less spell heavy, so Monastery Swiftspear and Soul-Scar Mage become a lot worse. In the early turns, it’s best to be hitting for two damage while deploying more creatures to the table, rather than one.
Compared to Hired Claw, it’s clear Hired Claw gives you more of an edge in the early game. This is because you can start pumping Hired Claw as early as turn two, and Hired Claw also works exceptionally well in multiples.
That being said, Greasewrench Goblin’s ability to protect you against flood is exceptional. In grindy games, you have the luxury of holding your excess lands with the intention of discarding them to Greasewrench Goblin and getting some fresh cards. When you’re flooding, this makes Greasewrench Goblin a much better topdeck than any of the other hard hitting one-drops.
Speaking of topdecks, another adaptation this red deck made is to utilize a full playset of Sunspine Lynx. Being able to maindeck Sunspine Lynx is a big reason to stay mono-red, since you’ll take less damage off its triggered ability while punishing other red decks that choose to splash.
Sunspine Lynx is an absolute beating in Pioneer’s current metagame. Dimir self-bounce and Rakdos midrange are both incredibly popular and very vulnerable to this effect. Sunspine Lynx outsizes Nowhere to Run and prevents the life gain from Unholy Annex.
Sure, it’s a little clunky, but these decks don’t present ways to reliably counter Sunspine Lynx. So, even if your opponent has lots of removal, a few attacks with hasty threats followed up by multiple copies of Sunspine Lynx and some burn puts the opponent in a rough spot.
Traditional Red Aggro Tools
- Mana Value: R
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Stats: 1/1
- Card Type: Creature- Mouse Soldier
- MTG Sets: Bloomburrow
- Card Text: Valiant– Whenever Heartfire Hero becomes the target of a spell or ability you control for the first time each turn, put a +1/+1 counter on it. When Heartfire Hero dies, it deals damage equal to its power to each opponent.
The rest of the deck is made up of pretty typical red aggro cards. Attacking early and often only makes Sunspine Lynx more of a pain, so the deck is chock full of efficient beaters.
In the one mana slot, Kumano Faces Kakkazan and Heartfire Hero join the newly acquired Greasewrench Goblin. Kumano is a red aggro staple and should come as no surprise. Heartfire Hero requires a bit of building around, but there are plenty of ways to trigger valiant.
Manifold Mouse is the best of the bunch. Following up Heartfire Hero with Manifold Mouse puts the opponent on the backfoot immediately. Heartfire Hero will accrue +1/+1 counters in no time, while double strike makes it nearly impossible to block profitably. Later in the game, using Manifold Mouse’s offspring ability to force the opponent to have multiple removal spells will win you a lot of games.
From there, Monstrous Rage can make your big attackers impossible to chump block. Targeting either Heartfire Hero or Emberheart Challenger will pull you ahead significantly.
Lastly, it’s imperative that we mention Screaming Nemesis. Screaming Nemesis is a nightmare to face across the table. As a 3/3 with haste, you almost always get a hit in before your opponent can kill it. Blocking it in any capacity is a dangerous game. Either Screaming Nemesis gets to send damage to another one of your creatures or you take a bunch of damage.
Once you take any noncombat damage from Screaming Nemesis, you won’t be able to gain life at all. Combined with Sunspine Lynx and Burst Lightning, there’s a chance you just get burnt out even if you’re able to completely stabilize the board.
Constant Pressure
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Card Type: Land
- MTG Sets: Bloomburrow
- Card Text: Tap: Add colorless. Tap: Add R. Spend this mana only to cast a creature spell. R, Tap: Target Lizard, Mouse, Otter, or Raccoon you control gets +1/+0 and gains haste until end of turn. Activate only as a sorcery.
What makes this deck so scary to play against is that the threats just keep coming. Monstrous Rage, Screaming Nemesis, and Manifold Mouse make it very difficult to win by simply putting up a defense of big creatures. This forces you to have a slew of removal spells on curve for each creature the opponent plays.
If you’re on the draw, even if you have a couple copies of Fatal Push lined up, many of these creatures have haste, so you’ll still take damage before you can deal with them accordingly. A full playset of Rockface Village makes it likely that any copies of Heartfire Hero, Manifold Mouse, or Mutavault you draw later can attack right away.
The damage adds up quickly, making Sunspine Lynx harder and harder to beat over time. Once Sunspine Lynx sticks or Screaming Nemesis takes damage, life gain cards like Beza, the Bounding Spring won’t save you.
This doesn’t mean that mono-red aggro is unbeatable by any stretch. Rather, it means that the strategy of killing all of mono-red’s creatures and winning attrition battles isn’t as easy as you might think. For fans of red aggro, the deck looks to be in prime position at the moment, so make sure to take advantage.